From dilute matter to the equilibrium point in the energy--density--functional theory

TL;DR

This paper introduces a novel energy-density functional tailored for nuclear systems with large scattering lengths, successfully capturing the behavior of nuclear matter across various densities and improving upon standard models.

Contribution

A new energy-density functional inspired by effective field theory resummation techniques, calibrated on microscopic calculations, enhancing the description of nuclear matter.

Findings

Reproduces nuclear equations of state for neutron and symmetric matter.

Provides realistic saturation properties and symmetry energy density dependence.

Addresses limitations of standard density-functional theories in large scattering length regimes.

Abstract

Due to the large value of the scattering length in nuclear systems, standard density--functional theories based on effective interactions usually fail to reproduce the nuclear Fermi liquid behavior both at very low densities and close to equilibrium. Guided on one side by the success of the Skyrme density functional and, on the other side, by resummation techniques used in Effective Field Theories for systems with large scattering lengths, a new energy--density functional is proposed. This functional, adjusted on microscopic calculations, reproduces the nuclear equations of state of neutron and symmetric matter at various densities. Furthermore, it provides reasonable saturation properties as well as an appropriate density dependence for the symmetry energy.